1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to wound dressings, and relates especially to an island dressing that has high air permeability, is a liquid barrier, is flexible, strong and a bacteria barrier.
2. Prior Art
Today, wound dressings consist of many different forms. One wound dressing such is that made by Johnson & Johnson under the Tradename "Bandaid", has an outer layer or backing of a porous plastic film having an adhesive and a non-woven pad material attached to the film's inner surface. When the dressing is applied to a patient the nonwoven pad is placed over a wound and comes into contact with the skin. The porous plastic film backing in the prior art is supposedly used to let moisture that is trapped under the dressing evaporate out through the pores in it. This is usually not the case, because although there are pores in the dressing, moisture trapped under the dressing against the skin does not evaporate out through them. This is quite evident in a visual observation of the skin after the dressing has been removed, because the skin is moist and wrinkled. This condition is mainly due to the fact that the pores in the plastic film permits air to circulate only in areas where the pores are located. When moisture is trapped close to the skin it causes the skin to remain moist, thereby wrinkling the skin. As long as the skin remains moist, a wound may be subjected to bacteria and a long healing time. In addition, this type of prior art dressing will trap moisture, such as perspiration against the skin. A condition that will exacerbate the wrinkling of the patient's skin.
Another prior art wound dressing is a product manufactured by Medtech Laboratories, Inc. of Cody, Wyo., made under the trademark "New Skin." This prior art is a clear spray coating, whereby a protective coating is sprayed from an aerosol can, to cover an open wound. There are many disadvantages with this prior art. Some of the disadvantages, are ones the manufacturer has printed on the product such as, "the inhalation of the chemicals used herein may be harmful;" "the chemical content must be kept away from eyes and other mucous membranes, otherwise they may be damaged." Another disadvantage is that the contents when sprayed onto a wound causes the wound to sting, adding to the discomfort of the person who uses it.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,247,845, a dressing fabric is described that is made from silk or cotton, and is impregnated with a flexible collodion solution. The flexible collodion solution is then dried. When applying this dressing, the collodion solution must be redissolved in situ over the wound with an appropriate solvent. This type of dressing has many disadvantages. One such disadvantage is that a solvent must be used to activate the solution within the dressing, before the dressing becomes effective. Still another disadvantage is that this type of dressing requires a person to carry both a dressing and a solvent in their possession to properly use it.
The prior art has tried to achieve the aforementioned properties of air permeability, liquid resistance, flexibility, strength and bacteria resistance in their wound dressings, but has been only partially successful. The present invention has achieved these properties by using a unique fabric structure that is superior to prior art.
An object of this invention is to provide a wound dressing that can be produced economically.
Another object of this invention is to provide a wound dressing substantially more conformable and comfortable than prior art.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a wound dressing that is uniformly breathable, due to better air permeability of said dressing, while at the same time repelling liquid, and bacteria.
An additional object of this invention is to provide a wound dressing with strength and flexibility.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a wound dressing that is substantially free of lint.
Another object of this invention is to provide a wound dressing that is sterilizable.
Other objects will be apparent from the remainder of the specifications and claims.